Fort Worth Zoo Set to Open Elephant Springs Exhibit on April 15

The Fort Worth Zoo is getting ready to unveil a swanky new home for its elephants, but that’s not the only thing the zoo is doing to conserve the species on the verge of extinction.

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Founded from a traveling animal menagerie, or so the story goes, one lion, two bears, an alligator, a coyote, a peacock, and a few rabbits marked the modest beginnings of the Fort Worth Zoo in 1909. Since then, the zoo has grown to be home to more than 7,000 animals and receive national recognition as the top-ranking zoo across North America by USA Today in 2020. 

This month, the zoo is preparing to unveil the next phase of its major enhancement plan, A Wilder Vision. Elephant Springs — the second of four phases of the Wilder Vision campaign — marks the halfway point of the projected 20-year major renovation project launched in 2016. The new exhibit is slated to open to the public on April 15. 

Where before guest engagement was fairly limited due to space, the expansion nearly triples the exhibit’s current size to give zoo guests the opportunity to interact with the animals in a never-before-seen way. Avery Elander, assistant director of public relations at the Fort Worth Zoo, says guests will not only be able to observe training demonstrations and stand closer to the elephants than ever before but will also be able to play an active role in the exhibit through spraying a small stream of water onto the animals. 

Michael Fouraker, the zoo’s executive director since 2001, is eager for zoo guests to be able to watch the elephants roam across lush green habitats, swim in vast 400,000-gallon private pools, and bathe under a selection of waterfalls at Elephant Springs.

“I’ve been looking at it develop for the last two years,” says Fouraker. “We’re really ready to show it off.”

Behind the scenes, Elephant Springs will be able to largely expand the level of care these animals receive and help accomplish what is not possible in the wild. The zoo’s elephant veterinary staff plays a critical role in global health and behavioral studies of elephants. This, as Fouraker noted, includes the development of new drugs, better tranquilization techniques, vaccines, and even improved management practices. 

“Elephants in the wild have a lot of the same issues that a captive elephant might have, but you can’t study or diagnose these animals in the wild,” says Fouraker. “We’re able to do studies here that directly apply to the health and welfare of elephants in the wild.” 

Not everyone has been supportive of the zoo’s efforts, however. In March, animal activist group In Defense of Animals (IDA) listed the Fort Worth Zoo as the No. 2 Worst Zoo for Elephants, citing a specific incident in which the zoo had planned to purchase two elephants from African Lion Safari in Canada (which IDA ranked as the No. 1 Worst Zoo). According to the Fort Worth Zoo, IDA’s list contained false information, as the purchase never went through. Still, IDA has remained critical of zoos for keeping elephants in captivity and causing trauma by transferring animals from place to place.  

Fouraker, however, contends that zoos may be endangered elephants’ last hope for survival. The Fort Worth Zoo is currently home to seven Asian elephants, whose species is approaching extinction at an alarming rate. Nearly 25% of the global Asian elephant population, Fouraker says, is under human management. 

“If we don’t stop the decline in the wild, zoos are going to be the only place that’s left for the species,” he says.

For the past 25 years, the Fort Worth Zoo has been able to remain at the forefront of conservation efforts for Asian elephants through being one of very few zoos willing to manage multiple male elephants. In doing so, the zoo is able to breed and create family herds. Elephant Springs has nearly doubled the size of the barn, opening up space to house 11-plus offspring to ensure the species for future generations.

A Wilder Vision is only the zoo’s second period of major improvements. From the day it opened its doors until 1991, the Fort Worth Zoo was owned and operated by the City of Fort Worth. But, 1991 was a milestone moment for the zoo when the Fort Worth Zoological Association assumed ownership and temporarily closed the doors for much-needed renovations. Along with this new management came a deeper commitment to conserving elephants. 

Not long after the zoo’s privatization, the International Elephant Foundation (IEF) was founded by Fouraker in 1998 at the Fort Worth Zoo. Finding himself frustrated with the inefficient administrative structure of earlier elephant conservation organizations which were unable to successfully fund projects to protect the endangered population, he decided to adopt a different approach. 

“We organized a small group of elephant experts across the U.S. — zoos, circuses, universities, private owners — groups of people who didn’t work together for elephants, but we all had the same interest in seeing elephants survive in the world,” Fouraker says.

The efforts of the IEF are far-reaching. To date, the foundation has invested more than $6 million into hundreds of conservation projects across Asia and Africa, which not only protect elephants from poaching and litigation but conserve the habitat for hundreds of other species, says Fouraker. Projects range from small, grassroots efforts through relationships with surrounding villages, to establishing anti-poaching ranger patrols, to conducting research on diseases and the development of vaccines. 

The IEF is one of seven nonprofit organizations originally founded at the Fort Worth Zoo. While each of these organizations has over time come to operate independently of the zoo, the zoo has maintained strong relationships through consistent contributions to the foundations’ efforts. 

Over its 112-year history, the Fort Worth Zoo has allocated more than $186 million toward conservation and education projects with the hope of inspiring future animal activists through providing up-close and in-person opportunities to engage with its magnificent creatures. 

“It all goes back to conserving species,” says Elander, “as well as providing opportunities for residents and families in Fort Worth to be able to see and experience these animals, hopefully strengthen that bond between human and animal, and encourage them to learn more about their counterparts in the wild and contribute to their conservation.”